Chelsea FC Hire Wipro Day after Manchester United Strike Deal with HCL

Wipro will help Chelsea in transforming the digital experience of fans in the stadium.

Sep 4, 2015 13:16 IST

A four-time English Premier League champion, Chelsea, have roped in India's third largest software firm Wipro to become their digital partner. The contract was signed just a day after Chelsea's rival Manchester United struck a deal with Noida-based HCL Technologies.

The financial details of Wipro's three-year deal with Chelsea are yet to be disclosed. As per the deal, Wipro will help Chelsea, one of the world's top football clubs, in transforming the digital experience of its fans in the stadium.

"There will be two specific areas we will be working in -firstly, Chelsea is very keen to increase the quality of fan experience in the stadium. You call it connected stadium, you call it digital experience -and that's key to them. And we will be working to enhance that. Secondly, they are very keen to stay engaged with their fans when they are not in the stadium," Wipro Digital head Rajan Kohli told The Economic Times.

Nicknamed as "The Blues", the London-based Chelsea club have won the English Premier League four times so far. It has also won all the three major UEFA competitions.

Wipro will assist Chelsea to gain more fans in other countries. In India, the club has over 50 million supporters. The company will also help the club interact with fans "through digital channels and share news on players".

"We will be thinking through to how we can stay connected to these fans, what is it that they want to hear from Chelsea, what are the best ways for this experience to be made richer. And thirdly ... they're deeply interested in increasing their fan base -so we will be looking at digital ways to help them increase their fan base," said Kohli.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's rival club Manchester United on Wednesday announced a deal with India's fourth largest IT outsourcer HCL to improve its website and mobile app, as it starts rolling out a "new digital media strategy".